Ireland and Sri Lanka registered comfortable victories in Round 1 of the T20 World Cup.
Opting to bat first, Netherlands were bowled out for a paltry 106 in their allotted 20 overs. It was a listless performance with the bat since no one except for Max ODowd (51 off 47 balls) managed to touch the 25-run mark.
Curtis Campher (4-26) and Mark Adair (3-9) starred with the ball for Ireland, claiming seven wickets between them.
In reply, Ireland rode on Gareth Delany’s 29-ball 44 and Paul Stirling’s unbeaten 30 to overhaul the target with seven wickets in hand and 29 balls to spare.
Brief Scores:
Netherlands 106 all-out in 20 overs (Max ODowd 51; Campher 4-26) lost to Ireland 107/3 in 15.1 overs (Delany 44, Stirling 30*) by seven wickets
Asked to bat first, Namibia’s innings folded for a below-par 96 in 19.3 overs. The batting chart was quite disappointing as Craig Williams was the top scorer with 29.
For Sri Lanka, Maheesh Theekshana did the most of the damage, taking three scalps by conceding 25 runs in his four overs. Lahiru Kumara (2-9) and Wanindu Hasaranga (2-24) also chipped with two wickets each.
Chasing the paltry target, Sri Lanka got off to a terrible start as they lost their top three wickets for just 26 runs in 5.1 overs.
It was then the duo of Bhanuka Rajapaksa (42* off 27 balls) and Avishka Fernando (30* off 28 balls) stepped up to plate and shared an unbeaten 74-run stand to take their team over the line with 6.3 overs to spare.
Brief Scores:
Namibia 96 all-out in 19.3 overs (Craig Williams 29; Maheesh Theekshana 3-25; Lahiru Kumara 2-9) lost to Sri Lanka 100/3 in 13.3 overs (Bhanuka Rajapaksa 42*; Avishka Fernando 30*) by seven wickets